Yuma, Ariz. – The City of Yuma held its primary election Tuesday, August 2, where voters had their first opportunity of this cycle to elect or nominate candidates for the offices of Mayor, three at-large seats on the City Council and Presiding Municipal Court Judge.
Polls closed at 7 p.m. The current count reflects 9,407 ballots cast, including:
Early ballots that have been processed and counted.
Poll results from all voting centers.
Following are results as of 11:59 p.m. Tuesday.
Mayor / Votes Cast / Percentage of Ballots Cast
Nicholls, Douglas 5,483 59%
Watts, Karen 3,562 38%
City Council / Votes Cast / Percentage of Ballots Cast
Craft, William 1,523 17%
Knight, Gary 4,191 45%
Morales, Arturo 3,600 39%
Scarborough, Robert 2,235 24%
Smith, Carol 3,217 35%
Thomas, Edward 2,124 23%
Wilkinson, Nicolle 2,778 30%
Presiding Municipal Court Judge / Votes Cast / Percentage of Ballots Cast
Coil, James 7,734 83%
Approximately 4,700 ballots remain to be counted. The City anticipates the final tally will be released on or by Wednesday, Aug. 10, following the 5-day verification period that ends Aug. 9. Results become official once canvassed by the Yuma City Council; this is scheduled for their Aug. 17 meeting.
Per Yuma City Charter, Article IV, Section 5, any candidate receiving votes constituting a majority of all ballots cast in the primary is elected to office. Candidates for City Council will move to the general election in November at a rate of two candidates per open seat. Six candidates with the most votes received will move forward in the general election.
Pursuant to the Yuma City Charter, election percentages are based on the total number of ballots cast, rather than a percentage of the total number of votes received. Therefore, percentages listed could vary between the City’s listed results and Yuma County’s. The difference is because Yuma City Council seats are considered at-large, and each ballot may contain up to three votes for members of the City Council.